The world has become a place where people are no longer safe at public gatherings and our children are no longer safe at their schools. It is now not a question of whether gun violence but a presumption that that it will and a question of what is to be done about it. Law enforcement officers are often the first to respond to active shooter situations and are expected to quickly confront an attacker.
Given that many law enforcement officers may carry their gear in backpacks and lay people use backpacks to transport their personal effects to and from school, work, the gym, and other recreational venues, there is a need for an improved backpack for carrying personal items while also having the ability to carry ballistic armor that is quickly movable between stored and deployed configuration for providing ballistic protection for the majority of the upper torso including the belly, chest, and back in the event of an active shooter.
Existing backpacks with deployable armor are not easy to deploy and may easily jam in an emergency situation. For example U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,132 discloses body armor that must be grasped by the user using both hands and pulled over the user's head. The mechanism for carrying the body armor requires that even pressure be applied to both sides of the armor at the time of deployment or the body armor may become jammed in the carrying device.
Therefore, there exists a need for a protective backpack, which provides ballistic protection, is versatile, has an innocuous appearance, and may be easily deployed by a user.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.